


Journey to a Magnificent Place

by HappiestCamper



Category: Tetris
Genre: Abstract, Angst, Belonging, Comfort, Friendship, Growing Up, Historical References, Innuendo, Living Together, Multi, Other, Romance, Soviet Union, Spiritual, Weirdness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 22:38:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17109470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HappiestCamper/pseuds/HappiestCamper
Summary: Everyone has holes that need to be filled. Everyone wants to fill each other's holes. The only way to bend to the right shape is through a journey. The journey will be tough, but it will take you to a magnificent place.





	Journey to a Magnificent Place

"Would you like some GUM?"

L shuddered at the thought. They hated to think what kind of effects the coming together of all their downtrodden men would have on society. It really wasn't their place to dwell, though. Best look back and prepare for the future.

Square was confused. "GUM? You want some?"

"It's yummy yummy," he insisted

"No thanks." And with that, L walked away. His shaky breath formed into a trail of clouds left behind him. Square looked into the alleyway where they were going, perplexed as to what the mysterious tetromino planned to find down there...

 

* * *

 

S and Z were by far the underdogs of the group. Launched from their peaceful life on a farm to prison, and then to work in this scrapheap was practically an insult to each of their humanities. It was impressive they were still able to crack a smile at all, even if it was from the crude jokes they would make about the others.

"Ooh, look who's all fucking special. Commander Non-Binary unisex person who doesn't even have the guts to show his genitalia when he urinates."

"I hear he does it through a straw," Z remarked.

"Don't you mean a catheter?" The two men looked at each other and laughed hysterically as L walked into the room.

"Shove it, you two." They quietly scanned the room for a corner to cry in. Surprisingly, Z found himself able to rest his head upon L's lap and S upon his head, forming a comfy barrier around the fragile L that could only be compared to the womb. They would let the couple do this despite all the harmful jokes and comments they made. It wasn't out of want. It was never out of want, in fact, it would always be out of need. Because deep down they all knew that they would only ever have each other.

I walked in on this unrestrained display of loving affection, feeling a distant warmth build up inside of him. He always wished he could join in on this activity instead of just standing to the wayside and filling in extra space. A part of him deep down longed for the ability to change his shape into something that could more suitably fit the holes in his friends' lives. A part of him just wanted to be something else. Another part of him knew that the row would not be complete without an I-block on the side. There just wasn't anything he could do about it.

T entered, standing in the doorway with the face of great admiration. He had always been the gritty one, the down-and-out type you might see on an old detective show, but at the end of the day he held nothing but the utmost love and respect for his fellow tetrominos, possibly even more so than the others. He also had the unusual disability (if you could call it that) to think in long, run-on sentences with lots of commas, even though he spoke using very few words. But this time he did not need to speak. This time he was silent, admiring the hard work of his companions while simultaneously searching for a way to slide himself into the man-pile.

"Alma."

I raised his eyebrows. He watched the smile on T's face slowly twist into one of urgency and fear. Which one of his friends had said that name? Alma. Quite a pretty name. Unfortunately, it was impossible for any of the tetrominos to meet a woman. They would always have to rely on each other for company. It was fine, though, because they always made such a perfect structure. Every piece of their lives fit into place with one another, and one more would simply cause everything to disconnect.

 

* * *

 

 

Lying awake at night, I couldn't help himself but think about this Alma. He could almost envision it. Her face, her voice, her body. The color of the clothes she wears. Her hair color. Everything felt perfect. Why couldn't he get this girl out of his head? He didn't even know her! T probably knew her, though. He had that look on his face that said there was a definite history with this Alma girl. Maybe I should ask him? Probably not, actually, but there had to be some way to find out more information. Maybe O would have something to say? But he hadn't been seen in weeks...

 

* * *

 

 

"Want some GUM?" Square held out his hand.

"It's yummy yummy."

Reluctantly, I took Square's hand. In it he found himself in a new world. A better place. Was this what it felt like to be in the middle? To not have to stand on the side filling up extra space? No, I was not capable of feeling this emotion. He brushed off the feeling as he took the GUM into his hand.

But it was stuck. The two of them were stuck together. Looking up, I saw that he was not holding hands with Square, but instead with an unknown but incredibly attractive woman. I couldn't place his finger on it, but he just knew that he had seen this woman before. Maybe not in real life, but in another dream, or maybe a fantasy he had once. Then he saw T step out from behind with a puzzled look on his face.

"Alma?"

I would wake up the next morning with beads of sweat dripping across his skin.

 

* * *

 

"Hey, T?"

"Can't talk right now," T said.

"Oh, come on. It'll only take a second." I made sure to keep his posture straight. He read once in a newspaper that it was a key part of having authority over other people. Maybe that was the reason why L was always getting picked on by others.

"Fine. What is it?"

I clapped. "When was the last time you saw O?"

"O?" T pondered it for a while. Then his eyes grew wide with horror. "Kremlin! He was with Kremlin! Oh no!"

"Kremlin? What's that?"

"It's a being with a heart of darkness," T said ominously. "It has no soul, no compassion! It is like a spider, luring you into it's web. Then, like a python it wraps around you, squeezes the life out of you until it is satisfied."

"We should get him?"

"No!" T stammered. "It's too dangerous!"

So, it was too dangerous. So what? The whole crew had seen their fair share of danger over the years. It wasn't like they were a bunch of oblivious tourists when it came to the inner-workings of urban society. He opened the window to get a breath of fresh air. There was smog everywhere. Somewhere in the distance was a man offering GUM to strangers passing by. He shut the window out of fear that a quadrilateral friend might try to sneak in unannounced.

"Can we talk?" I turned around. T was nowhere to be seen. Instead, L was standing mere inches behind him. The way their head perched down made a comfortable looking space that I could only wish he was just the right shape to fit into.

"What do you want to talk about?"

L dropped their voice down to a whisper. "Do you remember what it used to be like?"

I was confused. "What do you mean?"

"You know..." A blush spread across L's face. "When you were me and I was you?"

"What? You mean to tell me that I was like you once?"

"Not like me," L said. "You were me. This me. And I was you."

"So you were I and I was L?"

"Exactly. I see you don't remember."

"What happened, exactly?" I was getting worried for his superior officer.

"Alma happened."

Oh. A lot of things were starting to make sense to I now. Alma, he didn't remember, but if he was L when he met her then it would only make sense that L would remember her and I would not. But if that were the case, that would mean L never met Alma back when they were I. It was a mystery and a half to be sure, and there was only one way to get to the bottom of it all.

"Take me to Alma," I said bluntly.

"I can't." L was very obviously uncomfortable.

"Can't or won't?"

"Can't. I don't know where she is." I let out a sigh of disappointment. "If only O was around here, he would know where she is."

"O?" I's eyes lit up bright. "He's with Kremlin. Any idea where that might be?"

"No, but I know how to find out."

 

* * *

 

 

"Watch and learn, my friend." L cleared their throat and spoke with a loud, clear voice. "Man, I sure do wish there was somewhere I could get GUM."

"Did you say GUM?" Square asked.

"Yummy yummy," all three said in unison.

There was something about the very concept of GUM. It was a very lower-class thing. Western countries seemed to have such high-class meals in comparison to what little nourishment could be found with GUM. Knowing now that it was associated with this all-consuming evil only made sense, really.

After the GUM transaction was made, L used their odd posture to peer down upon the little Square. "Can you tell me where they make this GUM?"

"I make GUM," Square said enthusiastically. "I make GUM myself."

"You're Kremlin?" I said impulsively. He caught L giving him a look of disapproval from the corner of his eye.

"Kremlin?!" Square's eyes widened with horror. He let out a nervous laugh. "You want to see Kremlin? I can take you. Come, follow."

 

* * *

 

The trio approached a pair of humongous metal doors. Square pointed at them. "Kremlin."

"Kremlin lives here?" L asked skeptically.

"No!" Square pointed at the doors again. "This is Kremlin!"

Kremlin was the name of a building. Why did T describe it as a spider-snake of darkness? What happened behind those doors to warrant such a description? Maybe it was a factory of some sort, for producing GUM and other similar products. It was obvious that Square was very frightened and eager to return to his work.

"Thank you, Square. You've been very helpful." I shook his hand, but for a brief moment the GUM stuck the two together. It was eerily similar to the dream he had last night, so much so that he was waiting for T to appear. He gave L a worrying gaze. "Am I Alma?"

L did not respond. They were too fixated on the giant set of metal doors. "What are we supposed to do about this?"

Without any warning, the doors slowly opened to reveal a much bigger square. It almost reminded them of O, but it really did look like he had had the life sucked out of him. Then the little square began to speak. "I worked for too long, so they cut me into pieces."

"Oh my god, O!" L ran over to their battered friend, embracing him with their shape. Once again, I could do nothing but stand to the side.

"Where's Alma?" I demanded.

L glared at him. "We need to get O back to base right now."

But I did not care about the safety of his friend O. All he was concerned with was meeting this girl Alma. What was it about her that drove him to be like this? Was it the very concept of being able to change? Perhaps he was so obsessed with being just like the others that it drove him to forget who he was. Or maybe he was just a man on a mission, and wasn't about to let personal feelings get in the way of the objective. Either way, it was clear that nothing was going to stand in his way.

"I'm going in there," I said.

O spoke up. "Don't do it, I. It's not worth the pain."

"If she's in there, I have to go."

Without another word, I slipped his way in between the metal doors just as they were closing, locking himself inside Kremlin.

 

* * *

 

 

Z was lying on the ground, blood pooling all around him as he coughed up mucus and phlegm. T had perched himself so as to cradle Z's head, and S made a great support for his back, but without the other tetrominos it was pointless. Then L and O walked into the room.

"L, O! GET OVER HER RIGHT NOW!"

"What's going on?" L asked.

"It's Z. He's been feeling sick lately, shivering and diarrhea. I think he had too much GUM." S looked like he was at the point of breaking emotionally. He wasn't ready to lose Z. They still had so much left to do, and yet it seemed time had not cared for them to do it. Z was the only thing S had left in the world. Nothing had ever kept them apart, not even Kremlin.

"L, quickly! Get on top of my head!" Despite the situation, T remained quite the resourceful leader. He knew that the best thing to do was to keep Z warm. He also knew that it would only be a matter of time either way.

O observed this sight from afar. He had never been one to get emotionally involved with anyone, not after Alma, at least. He did feel sorry for the others, though. Nothing about the situation they were in seemed right. It all seemed like it was almost designed to destroy them. Just another row eliminated from the table.

"S, T, L..." Z sputtered. "You've all been so, so good to me. I... know I don't... haven't... "

"Easy, Z. Save your strength." Even though they were nowhere near as proficient a leader as Z, something about L's official rank gave them this feeling of responsibility over the other tetrominos. If anything bad ever happened to them, L would take it personally, even if the others told them not to. 

"I... never told you... any of you... how much you mean. To me. This... is the... best thing to ever happen to me."

"Stay with us, Z!"

But it was too late. Z was gone.

 

* * *

 

 

I found himself surrounded in darkness. Somewhere there had to be a light. There just had to be.

"ALMA?" I shouted from the top of his lungs. He heard his voice echo throughout Kremlin like it was to be heard by everyone. Looking around, I still saw nothing, but through the sound of his own voice he could tell where to go. Echolocation. Yes, that's what it was called. He'd read about it in a newspaper once.

Somehow, everything seemed off a bit. It was like I was in a place he didn't belong. It was like he was seeing things that were not meant for his eyes. In that moment, I began to question whether or not anything was meant to happen. If so, how many things were predetermined and how many were random? Was I meant to remain as a nobody for the rest of his life? Just a single, straight line on the side of every pattern life presented him with? No, that wasn't what I believed. I was always certain of the fact that he was in control. Whether or not he made the right choice, it was always his choice. He lived by that motto, and would continue to for the rest of his life.

No, this was real. This was about as real as reality was going to get in Kremlin. He couldn't see it, but some force was telling him that he didn't belong here. It was more than intuition. It was pulling at him, not to go backwards or forwards, but to stay. Perhaps it was better for him to stay, but something in the back of his mind told him to move forward. It was Alma. She was close, and he could feel it. He could feel the pureness of the positive energy she was giving off to him. Nothing else in this world could bring him such complete happiness.

Coming forwards, I came across an unusual sight. Tetrominos stacked one on top of the other to form a perfect square. There was something off about them, though. Something... artificial. It was as if they had been manufactured to fit together so perfectly. Some of them were even in shapes that I had never seen before.

_Remember when you were me and I was you?_

In the center of the pack of tetrominos was a square-shaped hole. O must've tried to fit himself in, but it was unlikely that he would've succeeded. The various artificial tetrominos shifted around to try to fill this hole, but no matter how many different configurations they made there was still something missing. Something needed to exist to fill this hole. I was hardly the right shape, but somehow he felt like he had to. He knew he had to. It was his destiny.

Carefully, I twisted himself to fit inside the hole which was located in the center of the pack. The other tetrominos adjusted to accommodate for him. It wasn't perfect, but I was happy. Finally, he didn't have to stand on the side anymore. He was no longer I. He was now J. 

 

* * *

 

 

Although his shape had been twisted and deformed, J was satisfied. For the first time in his life, he was able to add to something. He couldn't wait to share this information with all of his friends.

When he exited through the big metal doors, J found his fellow tetrominos waiting outside for him. L, O, S, and T. They had solemn looks across their faces.

Finally, J understood. And so did I.

 

 

 


End file.
